Steve Franken
Franken in an unsold 1970television pilotThree for Tahiti
Born	Stephen Robert Franken (1932-05-27)May 27, 1932 Queens, New York, U.S.
Died	August 24, 2012(2012-08-24) (aged 80) Canoga Park, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1958–2012
Spouses	Julia E. Carter ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1986)​ Jean Garrett ​ (m. 1987)​
Children	3

Stephen Robert Franken (May 27, 1932 – August 24, 2012)^[1] was an American actor who worked in film and television for over fifty years.

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Franken was born in Queens, New York. He earned his B.A. fromCornell University, and returned to New York to pursue acting rather than realize his parents' dreams for a medical career.^[1]

Franken's first screen role was in 1958 as Willie in the episode "The Time of Your Life" on the anthology seriesPlayhouse 90.

ProducerRod Amateau saw him in a Los Angeles stage production ofSay, Darling and cast him as playboy dilettante Chatsworth Osborne Jr. on the sitcomThe Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, starringDwayne Hickman. Franken appeared as a recurring guest in numerous episodes from 1960 to 1963. He attributed the character's look of pained condescension to an ulcer he had suffered since the age of 14 when his mother had died.^[2]

Another early role was as Bully in the 1961 episode "The Pit" of the seriesThe Rebel, starringNick Adams. He played the lead guest-starring role in the 1961 episode "The Case of Willie Betterley" inLock Up. In 1962, he was cast as Dunc Tomilson in "The Yacht-Club Gang" onCheckmate. He appeared as Jerry Allen in two episodes ofMr. Novak. In 1964, he appeared inThe Time Travelers. In 1965, he appeared in "Birth of a Salesman" onMcHale's Navy, and in "Tim and Tim Again" onMy Favorite Martian.

He appeared in 1964 onPetticoat Junction as the son of the villain, Homer Bedloe in "Bedloe and Son". He played another rich wastrel on the short-lived sitcomTom, Dick and Mary.^[3] Franken appeared in the famous 1963Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Deadly Verdict" (in which Mason actually loses a case, at least initially) as Christopher Barton.

Immediately afterDobie Gillis was cancelled, Franken was cast as Lieutenant Samwell "Sanpan" Panosian in theGary Lockwood seriesThe Lieutenant episode "To Take Up Serpents", the first television series created byGene Roddenberry.^[4] He played other military roles, such as a decorated U.S. flier turned arms-dealer and traitor in "The Gun Runner Raid" episode ofThe Rat Patrol and as aP.O.W. lieutenant inFollow Me, Boys!. From 1966 to 1971, he appeared in various roles in at least six episodes ofBewitched.^[3]

Franken appeared as the drunken waiter Levinson in the 1968Blake Edwards filmThe Party, alongsidePeter Sellers. One journalist, writing on the fortieth anniversary of the film, stated:

Rivaling Sellers with one ofThe Party's stand-out performances: Steve Franken as the increasingly inebriated butler, slathering on a layer of slapstick to the proceedings with his incontinent antics. Franken's interaction with his vexed supervisor, his drunken stroll through the shallow indoor pool, his struggle to rescue the roast chicken perched precariously atop a bewigged socialite's bouffant hairdo: all comedy gold.^[5]

In 1970, he starred with Jerry Lewis in the comedy filmWhich Way to the Front?

From 1970 to 1973, he appeared five times onLove, American Style. He appeared as Officer Albert Porter in three episodes ofAdam-12 from 1971 to 1972 as well as Ralph Salisbury in the 1971 episode "The Ferret."^[6] In 1972, he appeared as Jonas Lasser on the season three episode "The Courtship of Mary's Father's Daughter" onThe Mary Tyler Moore Show.

He appeared onBarney Miller in 1975 (episode: "The Arsonist") and again in 1981 (episode: "Resignation"). In 1979, he starred as Tom Voorhies alongsideMichael Constantine in Disney'sThe North Avenue Irregulars. He appeared withPeter Sellers in 1980'sThe Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu.

He acted and directed in various episodes ofInsight.^[2] He appeared in small roles in such contemporary television series asMurphy Brown,The King of Queens andSeinfeld. From 2002 to 2003, he provided voices forLaw & Order computer games. He voiced Professor Eugene Atwater in the animated seriesRoad Rovers.

He voice-acted as Rundle in the 1993Batman: The Animated Series episode "The Mechanic" and was Mr. Beal inDetention episodes "Little Miss Popular" and "Comedy of Terrors" (both 1999). The following year, he voiced the role of Mr. Janus in the episode "Grounded" ofStatic Shock and provided voices inSmurfs (1981),The Adventures of Don Coyote and Sancho Panda (1990), andSpawn (1997).^[7]

Franken died on August 24, 2012, at a nursing and rehabilitation center in Canoga Park, California, of complications from cancer, aged 80. He had three daughters, two from his first marriage to Julia Carter, and one from his second marriage to Jean Garrett.^[8][9] He was the second cousin of actor and politicianAl Franken.^[10]

Wikimedia Commons has media related toSteve Franken.

• Steve Franken atIMDb
• Steve Franken at theInternet Broadway Database
• "GAF Super 8 Movie Cameras from $49.50" (1971 TV commercial withHenry Fonda and Steve Franken) at OVGuide.com. Retrieved August 18, 2012.

• 1932 births
• 2012 deaths
• 20th-century American Jews
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American Jews
• 21st-century American male actors
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
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• Jewish American male actors
• Male actors from Queens, New York
• Deaths from cancer in California
• Male actors from California

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